Quote:
Originally Posted by rick35
Who would vote that in? The same people who vote in everything except anything for summer residents? There would have to be something in it for the town that they don’t already have. In those cases it would be celebrities and their money.
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Only 2 states at this time allow voting by non-residents, Connecticut and Delaware. The law there allows anyone paying property tax in excess of $1000/year to a municipality to vote on bonds, town budget and for local town officials. They exempt school budgets as a non-resident has no children attending schools. The catch is that the laws leave it up to the local municipalities to enact ordinances to allow the state law be applied to non residents in that municipality. The change in some local towns around the country came about due to taxpayer, you might say revolts, with non-residents banding together and threating to withhold their tax money in escrow unless they had the right to vote on how to spend it. Ocean City New Jersey non residents (a shore community of second homes paying 70% of the local taxes) attempted to get state law enacted mirroring Delaware. The bid was ended when the town took on a new attitude and listened to the non resident's concerns and addressed their concerns in a meaningful way. Something municipalites in NH that depend largely on non resident taxes should heed. In all cases tax paying non residents had valid concerns about municipal services and spending. They did not pursue efforts to have their taxes reduced, but to be treated the same as residents that were taking advantage of the non residents lack of voting rights.